“I think it’s important that somebody speaks up about the cost," she told the BBC's Radio Four Today programme. "Ten million when you’re cutting disabled people’s benefits, I don’t think the public understands that.”

Jamie Reed, MP for Copeland, asked how historians would explain "4,000 police, over 700 armed service personnel deployed" for the funeral.

Another MP, John Mann, suggested that fewer people were on the streets to watch the funeral procession than passers-by on a normal day, although he noted that Treasury staff were all outside.

Last night, Lord Mandelson, the former Labour Cabinet minister, also said he would have advised against a "quasi-ceremonial funeral" of the kind historically given to war leaders.

He said he does not regard "Thatcher as Churchill", who was given a full state funeral in recognition of his leadership during World War Two.

Peers were given the opportunity of applying for tickets to the event, but Lord Mandelson did not take up the offer.

Much of the controversy around Lady Thatcher's death has centred on the cost of the funeral and the large military involvement.

Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister co-ordinating the event, said the cost of the funeral will be much less than the £10 million suggested.

However, the Government is not counting the cost of military salaries in its estimates, which is usual practices when calculating costs of major events.

A Government spokesman said the cost of the funeral will be published after the event, but it was not "appropriate" before.